Wind instrument



l Aug. 9, 1949.

T. E'eoi-IN'ERA WIND INSTRUMENT Filed April 3, 194e INVENTOR. ZF @da aw# a @6mm @H @Y .BN @Flaw @N mm d@ N.N

NH @NN Patented ug. 9, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WIND INSTRUMENT Traugott Rohner, Evanston, Ill. Application April 3, 1946, Serial No. ,659,220

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in wind instruments of the closed tube type such as the ocarina, in which tone variations are controlled by ingering a series of vents or holes. Due to the limitations of the number of lingers that can be used in lingering such instruments (left thumb plus three lingers of the left hand and four of the right hand) instruments of this kind are usually limited to a range of intervals of a ninth. Thus the conventional ocarina or its modern counterparts, only have vents for the diatonic scale, and half-stepped intervals (sharps or flats) can only be produced by an awkward ngering of different combinations of vents, or by half-holing certain of the vents, both of which methods are undependable and diiiicult to master.

The principal object of my invention is to provide an improved form of instrument of the character described, wherein I make use of a novel discovery that an additional vent or hole placed at the proper position relatively close to the mouthpiece can be used to alter the tone of all of the normal intervals of the instrument by onehalf step, thus giving a full chromatic scale throughout the range of the instrument.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple form of sliding key for controlling the additional chromatic vent, which is manipulated by the thumb which ordinarily controls the thumb hole.

A still further object is to provide a second additional vent on the instrument, also controlled by the sliding key so as to provide an additional and higher tone than can be provided on the conventional instrument Without the key.

The invention may best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a bottom View of a wind instrument constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a side View of the instrument, with part in section to show details of the sliding key, in one position.

Figure 3 is a top view of the instrument.

Figure 4 is a detail section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section showing the sliding key, shown in a second position.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary section showing the key in a third position.

Referring to details of the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, the instrument indicated generally at I0 is a modied form of ocarina which has an elongated body Il with a mouthpiece l2 and the usual whistle type opening I2a at one end. A series of linger vents or holes,

herein seven in number indicated I3, I4, I 5, I6, l1, I8 and I9, are of predetermined size and location along the top of the body, to be fingered by three fingers on the left hand and four fingers of the right hand, and a hole 20 is also provided on the bottom of the body in the same position normally occupied by the thumb hole of a conventional instrument so as to produce the usual diatonic scale.

In the improved form shown herein, this latter hole 20 (which for convenience may be referred to as the thumb hole) has a sliding key 2| mounted for longitudinal reciprocation thereacross, for purposes which will presently be described.

It will be understood that the instrument operates upon the closed tube principle of acoustics, rather than on the open tube principle inherent in wind instruments having an open end, such as the fe and iiute.

It is well known that pitch variations on a closed tube instrument are produced with vent holes spaced apart about one half the distance of similar vent holes of open type instruments. Another characteristic diierence between the two types is the ability of open tube instruments to produce a successively higher octave range by overblowing which cannot be done dependably with instruments operating on the closed tube principle.

I have discovered another distinctive phenomenon present in closed tube instruments, namely, that the provision of an auxiliary vent at a proper position near the mouthpiece can be employed to produce a variation of one-half step higher in all of the normal intervals of the diatonic scale, so as to provide a fully chromatic scale throughout the range of the instrument.

I find that this half-step vent should usually be located within one-half the distance from the normal thumb vent position of hole 2U to the mouthpiece end of the interior air chamber, but that the exact position of said auxiliary vent depends in part upon the interior conformation of the instrument body, and in part upon the size of the auxiliary vent. In the form shown herein, the half-step vent indicated at 22, is l0- cated slightly more than two-thirds of the distance from the thumb hole 2U to the proximate end of the interior chamber. I find also that substantially similar results can be obtained if this half-step hole is located on the side of the chamber, but that it is usually not so satisfactory for clear tone production if located on the top of the instrument adjacent the whistle opening l2a.

Ylimited by a depending lip The exact location and size of the half-step hole for best results can readily be determined for each instrument, by experiment. In general, if located too near the mouth-piece end, the desired hall-step Variations will be produced only through the lower register of the instrument, while if located too far from the mouthpiece end, the proper half-step variation will be produced only through the upper register.

I am aware that auxiliary vents with key controls have heretofore been employed near the mouthpiece end of certain wind instruments of the open tube type, but such auxiliary vents are usually employed to assist in overblowing such instruments to change the octave, and are ineiective to give half-tone variations in pitch throughout the entire range of the instrument as is the case with closed tube type instruments to which the present invention is especially directed.

Any suitable means may be provided for controlling the auxiliary vent 22, but for convenience and simplicity of control, I provide a sliding key 2| reciprocable longitudinally of the bottom of the instrument body and retained between longitudinal guides 25, 25 by an intermediate cross bar 25. In the form shown herein the instrument body is molded of a suitable plastic material, 'and the cross bar 26 of the sam-e material is cemented or fused to the body to hold the key in place.

The key 2| has two spaced holes 21 and 28 near its rear end, adapted to register respectively with the thumb hole 20 and an adjacent vent 29 in the body, disposed toward the mouthpiece end of the instrument. This latter hole 29 is designed to produce an additional tone to the range of the instrument as will presently appear.

The key 2| has an elongated slot 30 Vnear its forward end, said slot being arranged so that the half-step vent 22 is closed by the key when it is moved to its rearwardmost position shown in Figures 1 and 2, with the innermost hole 28 on the key in register with the hole 2D. Said halfstep vent is exposed in all other permissible positions of the key.

Rearward movement of the sliding key is 3| at the front end oi' the key, which engages a shoulder 32 on the body. Forward movement of the key is limited by engagement of the raised boss 33 surrounding the hole 28 with the cross bar 26.

In practice, I find it preferable to apply the thumb of the right hand only to the second or inner hole 28 of the key while playing the instrument, Vand for'this reason the boss 33 surrounding said hole may be cupped or recessed at 34 to accommodate the thumb and assist the latter in shifting the key between its three operative positions. The first of these positions is shown in full lines in Figures 1 and 2, 'wherein the key Vis in its rearwardmost position, with hole 28 on the key in registering position with the thumb hole 20, and with the half-step vent 22 and the additional vent 29 both closed by the key. The thumb hole 20 can then be controlled by the thumb, and the linger vents can be lingered in ,the conventional manner, to produce the several tones of the diatonic scale.

Whenever it is desired to produce a half-step variation in any particular tone of such diatonic scale, the thumb is used to shift the key 2| forwardly to position No. 2 in Figure 6, so as to open the half-step vent 22, and thus raise the pitch of any desired tone by one-half step. By shifting the key to its forwardmost position No. 3, in-

dicated in Figure 5, and releasing the thumb from the thumb hole 28, the half-step vent 22, and holes 20 and 29 will all be open, to produce an additional tone, preferably a lull step interval higher than on any similar instrument not using such a key.

With the half-step vent and key control above described, it will be understood that a full chromatic scale can be produced by manipulating the sliding key by the thumb, instead of by the methods now employed, such as"ha1f-holing certain of the linger holes, or by forked lingering (raising one or more intervening lingers between the lingers that are down), all of which conventional methods are most awkward and difficult to master.

Although I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction shown and described, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A wind instrument of the closed tube type having an elongated body with a mouthpiece at one end and a plurality of finger controlled vents therealong for producing a predetermined scale including a plurality of full step intervals, said body also having an auxiliary vent disposed closely adjacent said mouthpiece and substantially beyond the normal lingering positions of said vents in position to produce, when opened, substantially hall-step interval variations in a plurality oi successive scale intervals normally produced by fingering said lirst-named vents.

2. A wind instrument of the closed tube type having an elongated body with a mouthpiece at one end and a plurality of linger controlled vents therealong for producing a predetermined scale including a plurality of full step intervals, said body also having an auxiliary vent disposed closely adjacent said mouthpiece and substantially beyond the normal fingering positions ol said vents in position to produce, when opened, substantially hall-step interval variations in a plurality of successive scale intervals normally produced by lingering said lirst-named vents, and key means for controlling said auxiliary vent extending into position adjacent one of said linger controlled vents for manipulation by the same linger which normally controls said last-named vent.

3. A wind instrument of the closed tube type having an elongated body with a mouthpiece at one end and a plurality of linger and Ythumb controlled vents therealong for producing a predetermined scale including a plurality of full-step intervals, said body also having an auxiliary vent disposed closely adjacent said mouthpiece and lsubstantially beyond the normal fingering positions of said vents in position to produce, when opened, substantially hall-step interval variations in a plurality oi scale intervals produced by lingering said first-named vents, and key means for controlling said auxiliary vent extending into position for manipulation by the same thumb which normally controls a thumb vent.

4. A wind instrument of the 'closed tube type having an elongated body with a mouthpiece at one end and a plurality of linger controlled vents therealong for producing a predetermined scale including a plurality of'full step intervals, said body also having an auxiliary vent disposed closely adjacent said mouthpiece in position to produce, when opened, substantially half-step interval variations in a plurality of successive scale intervals normally produced by lingering said Erst-named vents, and key means for controlling said auxiliary vent extending into position adjacent one of said finger controlled vents for manipulation by the same nger which normally controls said last-named vent, said body also having a vent disposed between said last-named vent and said auxiliary vent also controlled by said key means, for adding a higher tone interval to the normal scale of the instrument.

5. A wind instrument of the closed tube type having an elongated body with a mouthpiece at one end and a plurality of linger and thumb control vents therealong for producing a predetermined scale including a plurality of full-step intervals, said body also having an auxiliary vent disposed closely adjacent said mouthpiece in position to produce, when opened, substantially half-step interval variations in a plurality of successive scale intervals produced by iingerng said first-named vents, said body also having an additional vent disposed between said auxiliary vent and the proximate thumb control vent on said body, and a sliding key member mounted on REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,703,382 Bernard Feb. 26, 1929 D. 112,623 Swanson Dec. 20, 1938 2,209,427 Swanson July 30, 1940 

